mod_rewrite problem with tilde

[David Banning]

I am migrating to a new server location which right now
has no domain name, so the ip address is being used.
The ISP gives an address for the apache directory like so;

http://184.154.230.2/~smartst2/

A simple redirect works, such as this one which directs to another
site;

Options +FollowSymLinks
rewriteEngine on
rewriteRule ^test\.html$ http://www.somesite.com/index.php [R=301,L]

but a redirect within the site does not work.  I wonder if it has to 
do with the tilde ~ character that the ISP has configured.

I presently have the following .htaccess;

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-l
RewriteRule   ^[^/]*\.php$  /
RewriteRule   ^[^/]*\.html$  index.php

Which does not work. If anyone is aware of problems using 
mod_rewrite with the ~ character or could contribute any pointers
as to how I could gain more information on - for instance -where-
mod_rewrite is -attempting- to redirect (considering my above 
.htaccess.